Ash (11 page)

Bastin stood and motioned for me to come with him. Brine stood at his side, ready to escort us from the Box. I rose to my feet sluggishly and walked toward them in a daze.

“We need to get out of here,” Bas said. “The lower rings are trampling each other to get out.”

I nodded, still too shocked to form any comprehensible words, and let him lead me to the lift.

As I walked away, I could hear Link comforting his mother. I wanted to press my palms over my ears. I wanted to press rewind and somehow fix what had happened. More than anything, I wanted to run to Link. I knew I couldn’t have done any more than delay Aldan’s execution, but I would do anything to ease the pain I heard in his voice.

Instead I watched him from the back of the Box as we waited for the lift. He helped his mother up from the floor, where she still quietly sobbed, and guided her back to her seat. His father clasped her hand as Link returned her to her seat. Instead of joining them, he stalked back to the ministers.

“How could you?” he said, his voice slick with emotion. “It was just a joke. A stupid joke.”

Bas’s grandfather replied, a note of warning in his tone. “A joke that denied destiny. It’s not your place to question the ministry, boy.”

“You just killed my brother,” Link spat back, his voice getting louder. “I’ll question whatever I want.” He paused, glaring over the Box, eyes pausing to meet mine.

I gave a slight shake of my head. Had he lost his mind? This was the ministry he was talking to.

“You know the real joke? Us. Every single one of us, sitting in the Box because someone decided our destinies were more important than the people down below. This system is broken.”

“Link, stop it,” I yelled. I couldn’t let him do this. He obviously wasn’t in his right mind, but the ministry wouldn’t know that—or care.

His gaze pressed into me, and I took a half step back from the sheer strength of it. “They killed Aldan for not winning a race, Madden. Do
you
think the system is working?”

I was mute. No one questioned the system. It was unthinkable to do so in front of the ministry. I gasped as Link yanked off his wrist tracker and flung it to the ground.

“I renounce the system,” he said. “And I renounce all of you too.”

“Arrest him,” Minister Worthington said.

In seconds the Destiny Keepers who had blended into the Box’s background circled Link.

Minister Worthington stood and brushed off his hands as though they’d somehow been soiled by the conversation. “Perhaps the holding cells will help remind you of your obligations.”

Mrs. Harris’s wails began anew as the lift doors opened behind me. Bas took me by my elbow and escorted me in. The last thing I saw as the doors shut was a stun stick being punched into Link’s shoulder, and him falling to the ground.

“D
ax!”

I heard Laira calling my name as I ran through the mob of people, but there was no stopping. I had to get to Aldan. I pushed my way past the crowds, sometimes going up just to go down, but always moving. If I could just get to my brother then I would… I couldn’t fill in the rest of the thought. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered, other than being at Aldan’s side.

“I can’t believe he’s dead,” one girl wailed as I flew past. I wanted to stop. Scream at her. Shake her until it wasn’t true. But I couldn’t stop. I had to get to Aldan, whatever the cost. I ran endlessly, through the crowd’s tears and shouts, past the zone fights breaking out, past the people rushing to any exit available, up and down and around until I reached the loop perimeter.

I slipped past security onto the grass under the course. Destiny Keepers had already brought Aldan’s body down from the upper track, and I sprinted after them as fast as I could.

“Let him go,” I screamed, flinging myself toward one of the Keepers.

He pushed me back, knocking me to the ground. I didn’t care. I got up, the tears now falling thick enough to blur my vision, and lunged again. This time someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“No,” I yelled. “Let me go.” I swung wildly. I had to get to my brother. Every second put me further away from him.

Arms circled around me, pulling me tighter. I kicked as hard as I could.

“Dax, stop,” a voice said.

The arms released me and I spun to find Theron. “We have to get to him,” I said, a sob stopping further words. It didn’t matter. I didn’t need to talk. I just needed to get to Aldan. I turned, frantic to reach him.

Theron grabbed my hand. “Dax, you can’t,” he said. “Those are Keepers. They’ll just as soon remove you.” Theron’s face tightened, and he pulled me toward him tightly. “You’re not going anywhere. He wouldn’t want you running after him.”

I tried to push away from Theron, but he wouldn’t let me go. “I have to get to Aldan,” I said, swallowing down my sobs before they could surface. “I can’t let them take him. I can’t, Theron. They’ll do something to him. They’ll…”

Theron pulled me closer and spoke softly in my ear. “There’s nothing they can do to him now that matters. He’s gone, Dax. And I’m not going to let you get yourself in trouble too.”

I stopped struggling and let Theron hold me. My brother was dead. It couldn’t be true, it just couldn’t. Because if Aldan was gone… my thoughts came to a screeching halt. I couldn’t process anything past that thought. Aldan couldn’t be gone. We’d sat at our kitchen table three hours before, laughing.

Other fans had joined us on the field. Their murmurs and cries mingled to create the soundtrack to my thoughts. Why? It was the only coherent question I could ask, and it pounded through my mind. Why had my brother done this? I remembered back to our earlier conversation. I would never forgive myself if his pause at the finish line had been because of me.

The Destiny Keepers—the Removers—stopped to cover Aldan’s body with an ash-colored sheet. It was a final insult to his status, and I clutched onto Theron tighter as I saw Aldan’s arm fall down from the sheet. It dangled, rocking back and forth. A pale circle around his arm gleamed against the tanned skin on either side. I held my arm to my chest, circling my hand around the purple cuff hidden under the sleeve. Had he known this would happen, I wondered, when he’d given it to me?

Next to us I heard a girl’s whisper. “He wasn’t supposed to do that.”

I looked over at her. Brown curls framed her face. Shock still gripped her features.

“No,” Theron agreed. I could feel his body shaking next to mine. “He wasn’t. This is all my fault.”

“It was his plan,” the girl said. “Not yours.”

“But
I
was the one who laughed when he told me. I was the one who placed a bet in our names.”

I wanted to tell Theron that he couldn’t have known what the end result would be, but I couldn’t speak through my sobs.

Across the field, the Keepers once again began their steady walk. The sight forced me to find my voice. “Where are they taking him?”

“I’m not sure,” Theron said. He paused, his own voice choking. “I’m not sure where Removals are taken.”

“They can’t have him, Theron,” the girl to my left said. Her tone was fierce, and I looked at her again, trying to place her from Aldan’s friends. I’d never seen her before.

“Dax,” I heard my name from the crowd. Strom, Pel, and Kai ran over to us. The face paint that had written Aldan’s number was smeared over their cheeks, but still legible, and I couldn’t stop the tears this time from pouring down my face. Strom pulled me to him and I buried my face in his shoulder. “Strom, why?” I asked. “I don’t understand. Did you know he was going to do that?”

Strom stroked my hair. “None of us had any idea. I don’t know what he was thinking.”

I looked up at him. Tears were streaking down his face now too, cutting through what was left of the “1” on his cheek. Pel and Kai stood on either side of us as the crowd grew in size. We all watched as Aldan was taken from the stadium.

I wiped my sleeves over my face, drying my tears as best I could. None of it made any sense. It was Aldan’s destiny to win the race. Laira and I should be headed toward the light rail, and on to Aldan’s after-party. We’d laugh when Aldan would show up late, because he was always late. And when Aldan was involved, we always laughed. Except not this time.

I closed my eyes.

“We need to go,” I heard Pel say.

“I know,” Kai agreed. “Dad said he would meet us there.”

“Where are you going?” I asked, looking at him in confusion.

“Dax, listen to me,” Strom said gently. “I’m going to stay here and find out where they’ve taken Aldan. Carlen and Shay are going to help me. They’re already talking to some of the guards. You need to go with Kai and Pel to the UV building.”

“I don’t understand,” I said. “If you think they’ll take Aldan there then why aren’t we all going?”

“It’s not Aldan.” Strom paused. “Link’s been taken to the holding cells.”

I looked at my brother in disbelief. “What do you mean?” I said. “Why would anyone take Link to a holding cell?”

“He renounced his destiny.”

I sucked in my breath. This couldn’t be happening. Nothing made any sense. Not Aldan. Not Link. I looked from one of my brothers to the next through blurring vision, trying to form some sort of rational question. My tongue suddenly felt too thick. And my throat too dry. I opened my mouth, then closed it, unable to make a sound.

“It’s going to be okay,” Pel said. “But we need to talk some sense into him. We should go now, Dax.”

Overhead I could see the holographs of Aldan projected. The one closest to us was on repeat. I watched for a second time as my brother balanced on the finish line, the Destiny Keeper’s blast, his body falling, convulsing. I gagged, trying not to throw up.

“Look away,” Kai said, tilting my face toward his. “Come on, now. We have to go before Link does anything else.”

“Theron?” I said, turning back to him. He was still deep in conversation with the girl. She wore a green dress. Odd, I thought dazedly, that he would know someone so far outside of his ring who didn’t go to our school.

“It’s okay, Dax. Your brothers and I will take care of things here, I promise.”

I nodded as Kai took my hand in his, and pulled me through the chaos of the crowd, away from a dead brother, toward the living one in jail. As the tears started to slip down my face again, all I could think again was… why?